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Topic: Grande:Not Blown Away Just Yet (Read 12698 times)

For those in Toronto, there is a Grande factory/outlet on Weston Road above Steeles. I am making the drive down this afternoon to see what I can get. There website shows it as a deli style store that offers everything Italian.

Big disappointment. They did not have any. Bought some plain mozz and some provolone to mix myself. I'll post my results in a few days

The Grande Cheese at Orfus is really good i hear and the up north a bit at Keele and Major Mackenzie isn't bad either. I read somewhere that "real" mozzarella cheese is too soft to grate or shred, it can be cut up in little pieces or round slices. I've bought it once at Longo's and it does give the pizza an authentic touch. I'm still a rookie at all this, but i'm learning quite a bit from u and all of the other members.

Just for the record, the Grande Cheese outlet on Orfus road in Toronto has no relation to the Grande cheese distributor in the States. That said, they do sell commercial-sized blocks of mozzarella, and I have been quite happy with them...

Whiskyb, what was the big disappointment there? That they didn't have a shredded 50/50 blend?

I wanted to let you all know,I bought the Gordons(GFS) bag of cheese thats 50/50 mozz and provolone.I was very happy the cheese did not burn or turn brown like other mixes of part skim or etc cheeses.

It bubbled very nicely in my oven and had a nice texture.Only thing is,I really am not a provolone fan.I could taste the difference and the provolone,not that its a bad thing,is just a bit too smokey tasting or sour...Im not sure what the words are.Excellent cheese,YES,but I desire the whole milk mozz route.I was really glad it did not burn...I used to love the walmart shredded mozz cheese in the bag,but it burned really bad on me a few times.

I will try the Grande east coast blend when I place an order and report back.

Logged

-Bill

scott123

Bill, unless it's smoked provolone (which I don't think it is), the descriptor you're looking for most likely isn't smokey. I wouldn't use sour either. The descriptor that would probably offend the fewest provolone lovers would be butyric acid-y or possibly the vaguer 'musky.' If one were a little more candid, they might reference a body odor note. I worship at the altar of parmigiano reggiano and have absolutely no issue when people talk about it's butyric acid-y vomit note, so when I talk about body odor in reference to provolone, I hope I don't offend.

Bear in mind, the butyric acid is directly proportional to the age of the cheese, so younger provolones, such as the ones used in pizza blends, should be pretty mild. For those sensitive to the taste, though, even the mildest provolone can be pretty musky.

I think it helps if you grow up eating it, but I believe that the taste for provolone might be able to be acquired. My first experience with a 50/50 blend was, like yours, pretty unpleasant, but later I had one of Larry's (thezaman) pies and enjoyed that immensely, although I believe he uses a lower ratio of provolone. I get the feeling that the brand of provolone makes a pretty big difference as well.

On a separate note, I had a bit of cheese breakthrough this past weekend. I purchased a notoriously non bubbling/burn prone cheese, that, for the first pie, melted/browned horribly. On the second and third pies, though, I drizzled a few scattered drops of evoo, though, and it made a world of difference. The bad cheese now melted/bubbled beautifully.

I get the feeling that quite a few supermarket brick motzes are leaner than what they purport to be. Perhaps cream can fetch more money being sold in it's liquid form than in cheese. I do know, that, in all my years of working with supermarket motz, I've never had a plain pizza give me the blessed layer of orange oil that you see in most pizzerias on plain slices.

While the quantity of evoo I used didn't give me too much of a detectable olive flavor and worked beautifully, I think I might play around with an oo/evoo blend. Non virgin OO is closer in line with NY pizzeria tradition. I've never seen an oliera in any NY style pizzeria, but I have heard stories of oil being drizzled pre-bake, and, if that was the case, there's no way they were shelling out money for evoo.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts.I wanted to be clear to everyone that the GFS cheese I bought is made by Primo Gusto and on the ingredients label,it says "smoke flavor".

I think this might have been why I did not enjoy it as much.I have eaten provolone cheese in the past and it did not quite taste like this.My 10 year old daughter that LOVES cheese,especially Mozz,she will often eat it out of the package or bag,she tried some and said YUCK.

So its possible that smoke flavor they add to it might have been the reason.I also recall with the Walmart GV shredded cheese I used a while back,that burned really bad,I was able to salvage it by putting it into a bowl and pouring some evoo over it,then mix the cheese by hand until the oil spread around nicely.Then topped off the pie.

That helped to reduce the burning and made for a nice oily pie as well.Its was pretty good too.

Im really itching to try some of the grande in the bag.I will place an order soon as I can.

GFS has un-smoked regular 50/50 diced or shredded provolone/motz OR they also have Primo-Gusto brand straight mozzarella. They also have Grande shredded or diced. Both brands are available in 5lb. bags.

GFS has un-smoked regular 50/50 diced or shredded provolone/motz OR they also have Primo-Gusto brand straight mozzarella. They also have Grande shredded or diced. Both brands are available in 5lb. bags.

Not where I live.They do not even sell Grande here either.Believe me,I have tripled checked and even asked the GFS manager to order me some other items,but they never do.

Not where I live.They do not even sell Grande here either.Believe me,I have tripled checked and even asked the GFS manager to order me some other items,but they never do.

As you all probably know, GFS Marketplace only carries a fraction of the items listed in their catalog; these items are clearly marked in their product guide (with an 'M'). However, if there is enough demand for a product not normally available, any particular store manager will break up cases and stock certain items that are normally only available by the case via special order. For example, I used to be able to get half a case of Grande Ovoline Fior-di-Latte from a nearby GFS this way, but the store ultimately stopped carrying this product, I assume because demand waned.

Disclaimer: Don't necessarily believe anything I say here. My brain ain't quite right anymore (unless it is). If I come off as rude or argumentative, that's probably not my intention. Rather, that's just me being honest, to myself and everyone else; partly because I don't have enough time left to BS either you or myself. If you are offended by anything I say, it's probably because you think lying to people (to be "polite") is a good idea. I don't.

I am lucky enough to live near PennMac, and I didn't buy the pre-shredded stuff, but the last time I went there I picked up some Grande Whole Milk. I feel this whole milk mozzarella is extremely tasty. I mean full of flavor. Much more flavor than any other whole milk I have tried. Not saying that there are not comparables, as I have not tried all the ones mentioned in this thread, but it is definitely not lacking in flavor. In fact, if it wasn't for the fact that I hadn't bought enough, I would venture to say a pie topped completely with this cheese would be very tasty. Not as tasty as a split pie, but still tasty. I typically use a 75-25 split with Provolone-Mozzarella as I always feel most mozzarella lacks flavor.

As for all of the provolone on pizza comments... I agree... never be afraid to use it. Grande Provo Nello is fantastic. Sargento Provolone is also very good. A local shop near me uses Sargento provolone solely on his pies (he buys the full log). I just need to find where to buy the Sargento as you can only buy it in pre-sliced packages at local grocery chains. Boar's Head is also very good but too pricey for my tastes.